The most iconic campaigns in Indian advertising

The most iconic campaigns in Indian advertising

4 Dec, 2011

Source: Adkatha, The Story of Indian Advertising

The story of Indian advertising told through some of the most iconic campaigns from 50s to till now.

The Pre-50s Decade:

Organised Indian advertising started when B Duttaram set up his advertising agency in Mumbai in 1905. Most advertising was targeted at the sahibs and the memsahibs who ruled pre-independence India. Professionalism came in when J Walter Thomson set up shop in 1929.

The AD: Bengalis and the good people of Orissa continue to face-off on the internet about the origins of the rasgulla. Either ways, this 1930 ad for KC Das pushes its canned rasgulla — a marketing innovation then

The AD: In its initial years, Horlicks was sold as a refreshing drink that could be gulped down, 'chilled on ice'. The idea found few takers but the brand grew roots in India, eventually.